NEMO Rocket 2P
Best for fastpacking
Brand: NEMO
Model: Rocket 2P
Our take The Rocket probably weighs less than the water you’re carrying, and it even has two doors. NEMO trims weight with a small, 21.4-square-foot floor and a barely-there 7-denier sil/PU nylon canopy (the floor is 10-denier). Four carbon-fiber struts force the corners outward to increase livable space, but the fit is still tight for two: “We found that the best way to sleep was head to foot,” said one 5’5” tester after a trip in Idaho’s Sawtooth Range with her 5’10” husband.
The details You can set up the versatile Rocket three ways: with trekking poles (saves 3 ounces), with guylines like an A-frame (ditto), or with the included T-bar and vertical interior pole. When pitched properly with the T-bar, the Rocket shuddered but held fast in 25-mph winds. Two vestibules (6.4 square feet each) fit packs and boots. The Rocket has mesh doors under the fly, but it’s single-wall everywhere else and condensation is predictably a problem on cool nights.
Trail cred “Ultralight frequently means ultraflimsy, but eight guylines made for a taut pitch,” said our Oregon tester after 15 nights in the Rocket.